"The WhatsApp group flickers into life at about 6am every day. It is the manager who goes first because, when you are 79, old habits die hard. Good morning, Osvaldo Jaconi hails his former players and staff before, little by little, the salutations roll in from across Italy. Maybe it is someone's birthday or another special occasion; the conversation may be accelerated by an in-joke that recalls why, three decades ago, they were brought together in the first place."
"This is how miracles stay alive. Perhaps it is the point of what Castel di Sangro achieved in 1995-96. A rag-tag bunch from this backwater in mountainous Abruzzo had risen from local amateur leagues and then, in a crowning triumph with little precedent, made it to the second tier. It's like 30 years haven't passed, says Angelo Petrarca, who was nominally the masseur but often resembled a one-man backroom."
An active WhatsApp group of former players and staff keeps Castel di Sangro's 1995-96 Serie B season alive through daily greetings and shared in-jokes. The team's ascent came from a small, mountainous Abruzzo town rising from local amateur leagues to the second tier in a rare, crowning triumph. Longstanding bonds endure among individuals like manager Osvaldo Jaconi and masseur Angelo Petrarca, who remains involved with the club. Joe McGinniss embedded with the squad during their first Serie B campaign and chronicled both the improbable promotion and their subsequent survival from relegation, giving the team international recognition.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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